A New Mexico high school teacher decided to take a page out of Megyn Kelly's playbook and tell a black student he wasn't allowed to dress up as Santa because "Santa Claus is white."
December 16, 2013

Megyn Kelly must be so proud. She doubled down on her "white Santa" remarks this Friday and as our friends over at Media Matters noted, this is how Megyn Kelly's remarks play out in the real world::

The real-world impact of opinions like Megyn Kelly's was on display this week when a black ninth grader was chastised by his teacher for dressing like Santa Claus, because according to him, Santa is white. Comments such as these are not only offensive, they erode a child's self-image, as a clinical psychologist told CNN.

Fox's Megyn Kelly sparked much controversy on December 11 for insisting that Santa was, and is, white, in response to a piece by Slate columnist Aisha Harris on how the universal image of a white Santa can be difficult for minority children to reconcile with their own experiences. Kelly later accused her critics of race-baiting and targeting her simply because she worked at Fox.

On December 16, CNN Newsroom highlighted Kelly's comments when telling the story of a black student at Cleveland High School in New Mexico who was rebuked by his teacher for dressing up in a Santa outfit. According to host Wolf Blitzer, "the teacher reportedly told the ninth grader that he couldn't dress as Santa because he was of the wrong skin color." Read on...

Here's more from Gawker: Teacher in Trouble After Telling Black Student He Can't Be 'White' Santa:

Megyn Kelly may have been joking, but one New Mexico teacher apparently wasn't when he told a black student he couldn't dress up as Santa because "Santa Claus is white."

Cleveland High School students were given permission to dress up as their favorite Christmas character to honor the spirit of the season.

Christopher, a ninth grader from Rio Rancho who also suffers from autism, decided to come to school dressed as Santa much as many of his classmates did.

Enter the school's resident racist Grinch.

"Christopher, don't you know Santa Claus is white? Why are you wearing that?" is what the teacher told the student, according to the teen's stepdad Michael Rougier.

"There's no room for that in the classroom," Rougier told KOB Eyewitness News 4.

The school district agreed.

According to a spokesperson for Rio Rancho Public Schools, the unnamed teacher self-reported the incident to officials after recognizing his "stupid mistake," and has been disciplined "appropriately."

He was also made to apologize to Christopher and his family.

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